Like Clockwork
by raycatdo
Summary: Ace was brought to England to live with her abusive father. Ace tries to find solace in sneaking out, but the streets have become dangerous. She soon develops a hatred for gangs, and, after acquiring self defense skills, Ace prowls the streets alone, fighting any droog that crosses her. But what happens when her greatest enemy becomes her greatest friend?


**Disclaimer: I do not own A Clockwork Orange, neither the book nor the film**

Darkness enveloped the world around me, save for the few lamp posts that sprung up from the pavement. Urban trees. I sat alone on the roof of a corner store that had closed some years ago, content to be alone with my thoughts and the chill of night. My skin was almost completely vulnerable to the freezing breeze, yet I felt almost none of that which should have chilled me right to the bone.

Truth be told, I hated it here. The city was ruled by crime and hostility. Not even my own house felt safe. I longed to return to America, my home country. Not that it was all that great, but at least my mother was there. Was. Now she's gone to old Bog, and I'm stuck here. With my drunken pervert of a father. But that's why I'm here now, out in the cold. Sad that I have to choose between the droog-infested streets and my own "home". But that's all fine and well. I have since taught myself self-defense, fully aware of all the "in-out in-out" that takes place.

Tiring of the view, I hoisted myself onto my feet and began to stroll to the edge of the roof. I leapt to the next roof. And then onto the one after that. To be honest, I kind of zoned out while I let my body fall through the air, so I was a bit surprised when I ended up in a part of the city that I had never been to before. Glancing around, I could tell that it was even dingier than my starting point.

Just as I turned around, ready to head back to my perch on the corner store roof, I heard a scream. A blood curling cry of a girl in pain, and one thought set my gut on fire with rage: "droogs".

I sprinted to the nearest window, as light on my toes as I possibly could be, and slipped into the building through the broken glass. The screaming continued, only much louder. It bounced off the walls and stabbed into my ears. Light as a feather, I sped towards the sound, running down some stairs and through a large wooden door until I ended up behind a thick curtain, a stage spread out before me.

There, on the stage, were about six droogs, all of them pushing and pulling on a screaming girl. Her clothes were torn from her and cast aside as they led the squirming body to a pile of mattresses. Infuriated, I opened my mouth to speak. However, another voice drowned me out.

"Ho, ho, ho! Well, if it isn't fat stinking billy goat Billyboy in poison! How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap, stinking chip oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if ya have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly thou!"

Nadsat. Pretty much every droog's main language. I didn't learn it well enough to speak it, but I had heard it enough to understand most of the words. I choked back a laugh at the challenge. "Yarbles..." I chuckled, rather immaturely.

It was around this time that the screaming girl ran off the stage, almost bowling me over. She grabbed my arms, still screaming.

"Help! Help!"

I grabbed her arms as well and gripped her tightly, urging her to focus. "Listen here, there is a place you can call the police not too far passed this building. You hurry up and get to there right now. Call the cops, have them here ASAP."

She nodded frantically and went tearing off. I turned my attention back towards the feuding gangs. Each droog had his own weapon of choice and was fighting back quite skillfully. One particular droog, weilding a knife and plenty of arrogance, caught my eye. So exquisite was he with that knife that I couldn't help but fall in love with the pure art of each cut. But I was a much better artist, and I couldn't wait to bring each one of these boys down.

I could tell which droogs belonged to which gang-white and well dressed for one, army garb and grease for the other-but I paid no mind to that. It no longer mattered to me which gang was which. Both gangs would rape, both gangs would steal, and both gangs would assault. I readied myself, pulling my sai from the sheaths at my hips, and sprang into action.

Needless to say, I was instantly the center of attention.

"Viddy the groodies on this one!"

Each boy in turn stopped to gawk at me. Yes it's true, my outfit of choice does show off a bit more of me than I would like, but I did not care. The staring didn't bother me one bit.

I let my lips curl into a teasing smile as I turned to face the sorry droog that had said that. My lucky day, it happened to be the ring leader of that attempted rape: Billyboy. He would be easy. I giggled sweetly. "The better to distract you with, my dear."

With that, I dropped to the ground, kicking out my leg and hitting him behind the knee and down he went like a pile of bricks. I socked him one real good in the mouth and used my sai to carve a fair amount of cuts into his gut. After that, the rest of his gang dropped like flies. A few slices and kicks here and there and they were down for the count.

"Pretty horrorshow with those sai, aye little sister?"

I recognized the voice as the one that had challenged Billyboy earlier and turned to face the speaker. This droog was actually pretty attractive and looked to be the leader of the white team. His piercing blue eyes seemed to dance under a curtain of dirty blonde hair which tumbled out of the sides of his black hat. One eye had fake eyelashes on it, for whatever reason.

"Would you care to find out?"

He chuckled and gave me a cocky grin. "Let's filly then, shall we?"

With that, he brought his knife up and began to dance about like a leaf in the wind. I stood my ground, sai raised and at the ready. A big, ugly brute kept yelling: "Shive her, Alex!"

"Alex..." I said softly. So this was the famous Alex DeLarge everyone is always blabbing about. I've been hearing about his mischief for as long as I could remember.

"What's that, love?" he called, still smiling at me.

"Come get one in the yarbles," I teased, "if you have any yarbles."

He laughed at my imitation of him and then we began to fight. It was a very short fight and very uneventful, if you want to know the truth. I got him good a few times, some minor cuts on the hands and clothes, but he didn't touch me once. Just as Alex's droogs were getting hungry for more bloodshed, sirens began to sound in the distance.

Alex let out a shrill whistle and motioned for his droogs to leave. Looking back at me, he smiled and said, "Real horrorshow with those sai, little sister. Real horrorshow."

And then he was gone.


End file.
